At this point the atmosphere begins somewhat to clear. Two trials have been discussed, and the result is seen that the two chief witnesses at them were guilty of wilful perjury. Bedloe contradicted himself beyond belief. Although it was by no means clear at the time, the men convicted upon the evidence of Prance were certainly innocent. This has since been universally recognised. Yet the verdict against them was not perverse, and small blame attaches to the judges and jury who acted on the evidence of Prance. For all they knew he was speaking the truth. The witnesses for the defence were uncertain in points of time to which they spoke, and Prance was to a certain extent corroborated by independent evidence. On the case which came into court the conviction was certainly justifiable. It is now possible to see that the verdict was wrong. The motive which Prance alleged for the crime was weak in the extreme, and his subsequent conduct supports the fact of his perjury. Although an absolute alibi was not proved for any of the accused at the time of the murder, a considerable body of evidence came near the point, and an alibi was proved both for Green and for Hill at the time when Prance stated that each was engaged in dogging Sir Edmund Godfrey to his death. The sentries proved that the body had not been removed in the manner which Prance described. The evidence of the inmates of Hill’s house proved that it had not been placed where Prance affirmed. Green, Berry, and Hill were wrongfully put to death. From this point it is necessary to start upon the pursuit of the truth, and before starting it is well to take a view of the situation. Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey disappeared on Saturday, October 12. Five days later his body was found in a field near Primrose Hill. He had been murdered, and the crime was committed for some motive which was not that of robbery. He was murdered moreover not where his corpse was found, but in some other place from which it had afterwards been conveyed thither. Whoever was the criminal had placed the body in such a way that those who found it might attribute the magistrate’s death to suicide. Two witnesses appeared to give evidence to the fact of the murder. These two were the only men who ever professed to have direct knowledge on the subject. They both accused innocent men, told elaborate falsehoods, and contradicted one another. Their stories were so unlike, and yet had so much in common, that the fact must be explained by supposing either that there was some truth in what they said, or that one swore falsely to support the perjury of the other. The relation between the two is the point to which attention must be devoted in order to trace the interaction of their motives and to determine whether both or neither or one and not the other knew anything about the murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey.